Ambivalence
by GiovanniSama
Summary: Two cousins are reunited in the afterlife after their untimely demises. One woman seems to know the reasons for their deaths but it is unknown what alignment she is, and what she holds in store for them in the future.


**Author's Notes: What it do? This is my first Bleach story, yay lol! Just a few things before we get started. This story will be dominated by OC's. All/majority of the original characters from Bleach will make an appearance as well and will have heavy parts but for the most part everything will center around my OC's. **

**The main reason why I'm writing this story is thanks to my overly obsessed Bleach fan of a cousin who wanted his created character to be brought to life. So I decided to do so and throw in one of my own. **

**Hope you enjoy the first chapter and look forward to reading your reviews.**

Side Note: Ambivalence means conflict of ideas of attitudes/uncertainty. For those out there who were confused by the title. Ja ne!

**Ambivalence  
**1st Kaiki: The End is Just the Beginning!  
**(Part One)**

A pale blue sky paints the canvas of what looks like a barren ghost town. Dull bleach white towers stand tall in the back ground as a chilly breeze gust through. Murky grey clouds conceal any sight of the sun's presence as shadows still somehow manage to loom over the sterile streets. The building structures looked run down as many of them gave off the unstable feeling that they could collapse at any moment – it was almost miracle that they could withstand the daily poundings of the fierce winds.

There was silence – complete silence – not even a howl from the wind as it gradually picked up. As if provoked by the stillness of the environment – a blood-chilling shriek bellowed as the pavement began to shake. The previous shadows that seemed out of place in this vista began to take form – turning into something hideous, something foreign. Within a few seconds the once dead settlement was literally crawling with Hollow of all shapes and sizes.

"Alright chibi! It's look like the Hollow have finally arrived! Remember to stick to your groups and listen to the person who has been placed in charge. The key to passing this exam and your _survival _is teamwork! If anything happens we have several seated Shinigami on stand by, but please take this exam as if it was the real deal. You will not always have the luxury of relying on your sempai to watch over you in the future! Good luck to you all!" an instructor announced over a loud speaker which echoed throughout the entire town.

With that announcement the town suddenly was now also crawling with squads of year six Shinigami academy students hoping to gain the promotion they all had been working so hard to achieve. Each squad consisted of a number of ten members with one placed in charged of their movements.

"Yosh! All right guys, this is what we have been waiting for! Lets show them what we are made of!" a tall lanky student said with short bleach blond hair, pale white skin, and indigo eyes.

"Don't let the fact that you were placed in charge go to your head Akina-san." a slender female said with blinding white hair, golden tan skin, and piercing silver eyes.

"I don't think I'm the one you should worry about Setsuka-san." Akina said as he gazed behind them past the other members of their assigned squad. At the far end of the pack where two students leaning against the sidewall of an old wooden house that was near them.

"Why in hell was I placed in the same squad as those two monsters." one of the other students in the squad said as he glared at the two when he realize that Akina and Setsuka were looking back at them.

"Akikaze, Shinji, what the hell are you two doing?! The exam has already started!" Akina yelled as he began to tread back there toward them.

"You know damn well I won that last fight we had." the one named Shinji proclaimed as he crossed his arms not even looking at his partner in crime. He was the larger of the two as the silhouette of his body showed signs of heavy training. He wore his raven hair down to his shoulders with the back part tied into a ponytail with a shade chocolate toned skin. His amber eyes were so fierce that his enemies felt like they would be burnt alive if they were to stare into them – according to the rumors around the school that is.

"Whatever… I'm tired of hearing you complain about it. Lets just settle it with a little competition then?" the other named Akikaze said with a faint smile on his face. He was among the tallest in the school and despite his slim frame he was every bit as strong as Shinji when it came to physical strength. His skin was ebony brown with his jet black hair in a low fade, his single eye a calm auburn – single because only his left eye was present, his right eye had been replaced with a lavender colored stone during his _rebirth _with a long scar stretching from the top of his eyebrow to his cheek bone_. _He also had chains attached to his body in several different places – another oddity along with his right eye that left the higher ups in Soul Society clueless about the causes. Not to mention how much the scientists in the 12th squad wanted to _experiment_ on him.

"Hmmm…. now you got my attention." Shinji said as he began to rub his chin and laugh in a maniacal manner causing Akikaze to give him a very strange look before shaking his head.

"Anyway… The one who kills the most Hollow in this exam will be the winner, but there is a catch…" Akikaze paused long enough to add some suspense to the rules, which caused Shinji to glare up at him.

"And?"

"No releasing of the Zanpakutō or using any Kidō."

"Fine, I don't need to release it to beat you anyway – to early to surprise the world with my greatness. And I only used my katana and fist to defeat my opponents!"

"Big words eh? To bad that's all they are to me. And if I released mines then this little comp would be over before we even decided it. I'm only making things easier for _you_."

"Fuck you. Don't cheat either."

"Now you accusing me of cheating? You lost ya damn mind if you think I'll have to cheat to beat your ass."

Akina walked up to the two with a tired expression on his face. He knew those two would just prove to be the usual headache that they normally were for him.

"What the hell are you two doing?!"

Akina and Setsuka along with a couple of others from the fifth year were the only ones who would socialized with the two – mainly due to fear since the two had acquired the name _'Bakemono Cousins'_ due to their outrageous strength and ice like attitude toward others – Akikaze's _condition _didn't help much in the situation either. Akina was also the only one who had the courage to argue with them at times. Setsuka on the other hand was the only one who could get them to listen to reason – _most_ of the time. There were even times when the instructor would ask for Setsuka's help in getting them to cooperate in class.

He suddenly noticed the mischievous twinkles in their eyes. "W-w-what the hell are you two planning now?!" he demanded.

"Setsuka!" Akikaze called out as he walked up to her completely ignoring Akina causing him to become furious.

"Yeah?"

"You're our judge."

"Nani?" her expression showed how baffled she was. Akikaze winked at her right before he received a hard _playful_ blow to the back of his head from Shinji who was chuckling out loud.

"Stop flirting bastard."

"You're going to regret that later." Akikaze growled as he walked ahead.

"Lucky this is a training session or I'd just kick your ass right now!" Shinji said as he walked up to Setsuka.

"What's going on Shinji-kun?"

"Just a little friendly competition between cousins." he grinned before chasing after Akikaze.

"I should've known things weren't going to go the way I wanted them to. Why can't those two just behave for a change?" Akina said in an exhausted tone.

"Don't fret… this might actually be fun."

"Shows that you don't care about becoming a Shinigami."

"There will be plenty of other chances, not like this is the final straw for us. There was no guaranteed that we would be promoted for doing well here anyway." Setsuka said as she too began to chase after the two cousins. Akina sighed out loud and glanced back at his squad – what was left of it.

"Screw them, we do things by the book. Lets move!"

"Hai!" all the other students yelled, majority of them relieved that those two were no longer among them.

Instead of fighting the Hollow as they came across them, the two of them dodged them all until they arrived at the center of the town. Setsuka was more than bewildered by their actions. It was almost like they were trying _not _to fight the Hollow.

Akikaze stopped first and looked back at his cousin.

"Ready?"

"I'm always ready to kick ya ass."

"We'll see about that." he replied with a smirk on his face.

Finally Setsuka managed to catch up to the two and was nearly out of breath as she hunched over.

"What are you guys—" before she could finish her sentence the two of them were already gone in a flash as they both unsheathed their katana at the same time. Suddenly another squad leader caught sight of them and ran over to Setsuka.

"What are you doing? This is our spot!"

"Didn't know we were assign spots." She said with a knowing smile on her face as she nodded toward the direction of the cousins without even looking at him. He followed her line of vision to see the last two people he wanted to see and decided that it would be better to just leave her be for now.

"Y-Y-yeah…you're right about the spots. Be careful then ok?" he said before returning to his own team. She laughed out loud at the fact that so many people were afraid of those two – it also allowed her to get away with a couple things too.

Akikaze was the first to take action as he threw his katana into the chest of a Hollow. He suddenly twisted his right hand around the chain that was attached to his wrist that he had connected to the hilt of his katana and pulled it out and twirled it around violently in a large circle taking out several more Hollow in the process.

"Eight already!" he shouted as he slung the katana back into the sheath without even touching it once.

"Show off." Shinji grumbled under his breath as he ripped through his second Hollow. He suddenly gripped his katana with both his hands and sent two hacks in the air creating a wave of wind that easily ripped through the remaining Hollow that were surrounding him.

"What the fuck was that?!" Akikaze asked as his face showed just how shock he was.

"Secret!" Shinji yelled as he charged toward another Hollow that was in his line of sight, he began to stab his katana into it but was forced to watch as another blade slashed upward through the Hollow slicing it completely in half – it almost caught Shinji as well.

"You're still to slow to keep up with me." Akikaze stated with a childish expression on his face.

"Stole my kill!" Shinji shouted as he slashed at Akikaze who hopped backwards dodging his attack – in the same motion he launched his katana behind him stabbing another Hollow. He pulled back on the chain hard enough to yank the katana out and back into his hand – pulling the Hollow closer to him in the process. He then twist around and slashed through the same Hollow finishing it off.

"And now I'm _two_ ahead you." he said in a teasing tone as he dashed off.

"Fucking bastard!"

Setsuka just stood there in awe as she watched the two cousins _work_. Their rivalry with one another had pushed them far above the other Shinigami hopefuls. She glanced around and noticed that the others were struggling with just a few while _they_ were finishing them off without even any real effort involved. She'd seen them go all out before when they sparred, and she was afraid that they were going to kill each other.

From the corner of her right eye she caught a glimpse of her assigned squad with Akina leading them. Akina wasn't a push over himself either. He was working his way through every Hollow that stood in there way as he barked out orders that showed his prowess as a born leader. But even he wouldn't be able tangle with one of those two in a serious match.

Shinji glared on at his cousin until he caught sight of two Hollow standing by each other.

"You're not the only who can do that acrobat shit!" Shinji yelled as he threw his own katana into a hollow close to him, he then dashed up to it and leaped in the air as he drop kicked the hilt of the katana causing it to fly through it's head into the Hollow that was behind it. He then used his momentum to land on top of them grabbing the katana and ripping through both of them with two swings finishing off the attack. "Plus two of my own."

"Lucky shot. Stick to being a brute and leave the flying to me kay?" Akikaze said as the chain that was attached to his left wrist wrapped around the Hollow he was fighting. He then grabbed the chain with his right hand and slammed the Hollow into the building they were by. He quickly unsheathed his katana and stabbed it into the Hollow.

After a few more _scored _kills the two met back up in the center with not even a drop of perspiration on them anywhere. Almost all of the Hollow that once occupied this town had been dealt with by those two alone leaving the others who didn't know of there monstrous strength dumbfounded.

"Who are they?" one student from another squad asked.

"Don't you know? They are the rumored _Bakemono Cousins_ that everyone has been talking about." another answered.

"Those monsters?" the chatter began to pick up as more and more squads finished up the last of the Hollow until there was none standing anymore. Now all eyes were on the two cousins who seemed to be glaring at each other.

"I win." Shinji announced proudly.

"Bullshit! I killed way more than you did!" Akikaze argued – they quickly turned around and noticed Setsuka staring at them with a blank expression on her face.

"SETSUKA!" they both yelled at the same time causing said person to sigh out loud.

'_So this is what they wanted me for…'_ she thought. "Twenty-five to twenty-five."

"Nani?! She has to be lying!" Shinji demanded.

"It's Setsuka, you know damn well she doesn't lie."

"So you cool with this then?"

All of a sudden everyone in the area felt an immense spiritual pressure coming from the end of the town – strong enough to cause some of the students to drop to a knee.

"A reiatsu?" Shinji asked confused.

"Looks like there is one more." Akikaze said. They both unsheathed their katana and pointed toward the Hollow in question as it appeared. It was much larger than the previous ones they were fighting. It stood at least three stories high with two mouths for hands as it began to bellow as if it was grieving for it's fallen comrades.

"The one to strike the final blow on the boss is the winner." Shinji said as glared up at the monster.

"Wow… you can actually use your brain and think of the same things I do sometimes." He stated honestly astonished by his cousin's statement.

"Smartass."

The pressure began to intensify as a woman appeared on the hollow's shoulder. She was wearing a lavender qipao that had black butterflies imprinting all over it. Her pitch-black hair flowed low to the small of her back, cinnamon toned skin, black lipstick, and her elegant jade eyes were locked on the two cousins.

"You?!" the two yelled at the same time. Akikaze quickly turned to his cousin with a perplex expression on his face.

"How in hell do you know her?" Akikaze demanded.

"She was at your funeral. Wasn't she your girlfriend?"

"More like my murderer!" Akikaze shouted.

"NANI?"

**II  
**(Living world, six and a half years prior to current events)

The chants of the crowd were growing louder by the second. The arena was literally shaking from the amount of people standing and shouting. The tension was so thick that the weak of heart would find it hard to breathe if they were in the middle of all this commotion. Attached to the center of arena's ceiling was a large box light digital scoreboard that displayed five seconds left on the clock with the score tied eighty-five to eighty-five. Both teams were in the middle of a time-out but nothing could be really heard outside of their hurdles thanks to the audience. But this was to be expected from a game that held the championship title on the line.

"Five seconds left on the clock and they have the ball. Now I know you're thinking that this game is as good as done but five seconds is more like a lifetime in these types of situations. Stay calm, don't panic, and do what you learnt in practice and we can turn this around and win this game in overtime!" the coach shouted as he loosened his tie. Even if he was preaching to his team about being calm he himself was struggling to get a hold of his on nerves.

The referee blew his whistle announcing it was time for the game to resume. The starters from both benches stood up and took their position on the court.

"Hey man, you ok?" one of the players asked his teammate who was wearing the number five jersey as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"You know me, I dreamed of this moment all my life. I live for these type of situations." he replied with a large smile on his face. It was obvious that he was more than excited as he could barely contain his giddiness.

"That's what I'm worried about." the other player said as he walked down to the post as the other team finally took their places on the court.

'_We're on the road, they have the ball with just five seconds left on the clock, and five just happen to be my lucky number tonight. The odds are in my favorite.' _He thought as he lined up in front of the point guard who was at the top of the point.

He began to watch the eyes of the small forward that was inbounding the ball. Unlike himself, that guy was obviously scared out of his mind.

'_The odds of a player making a mistake in the last seconds of a game like this is at its highest and all one needs is a sign to be on the positive side of the mistake.' _He thought as he began to scan the forward's appearance for any tells.

And that tell was an obvious one to him as he noticed that the small forward kept looking at the center that had his eyes deadlocked on him.

'_Come on…'_

As soon as the referee handed the small forward the ball the center quickly dash up to screen him, but he had saw through everything from beginning as he spun off the center with enough space to allow his teammate to squeeze through the screen as well permitting him to continue to guard the center without any interruptions. He then intercepted the pass that was meant for the point guard cutting to the lane, and without any hesitation he began to push the ball up the court weaving through traffic like it was child's play and closes things off with authority as he punched in the dunk leaving just a half second left on the clock. The crowd was stunned – not at the fact that he had just pretty much ended the game but at the fact that no one realized just how fast he was until now.

Suddenly a few cheers were heard as the other team passed in the ball hoping to catch the other team off guard but the game was already over as he managed to steal the ball yet again.

The buzzer signaled the end of the game as everyone from his team literally leaped off of the bench with excitement. One of his teammates grabbed him and picked him up. It was celebration time for him and his team as they finally had completed their goal that they had set over a year ago.

The ride back to the hotel was loud and joyous as everyone who had a part in the win – even the bench riders – was in celebration mode. Thanks to how late the planes would be departing the head coach decided that it would be for the best if they just stayed another night. He could really care less actually since he knew he had a sweet bonus waiting for him when he got home thanks to the _special_ win that he had just added to his belt.

Instead of celebrating with his teammate in the hotel room, he decided that it would be better if he were to take a walk. Even though he was excited about the victory he felt like there was something calling out to him – something that he couldn't ignore no matter how much he tried.

It was a quarter till eleven when he finally managed to escape the grasp of his teammates and coaches long enough to slip out. As soon as he exited the hotel he heard a whistle coming from behind him that caused him to instantly freeze up.

"Hey number five, where ya going?" he slowly turned around to the sight of a very stunning female with long raven hair that reached the small of her back, skin the shade of cinnamon, and the most beautiful pair of jade eyes that caused his heart to skip a beat. He thought he was going to die there from the shock.

"Who wants to know?" he asked as he fully turned around allowing himself to regain his composure. She smiled as she walked up to him.

"Somebody very important." She said in a very tempting tone as she stopped right in front of him.

"Do I know this VIP?"

"No, not yet. But _I highly _recommendit."

"Is that so?" he mused.

"How about we take a walk ok?" She grabbed his arm and tugged him out of the hotel door not allowing him to answer. For some reason he found it hard to reject her offer anyway as he just went with the flow.

Despite how loud it was in the hotel, the streets were surprisingly calm tranquil and quiet.

For the first couple of blocks there was nothing but silence between the two of them. It felt like that the two of them were at a lost for words when it came up to starting a conversation.

"So –"

"You're pretty good." she interrupted.

"Uh… thanks." He replied as he was caught a little bit off guard with her sudden praise.

"You thinking about trying to go pro?"

"I don't know, maybe if I step up my game to the next level."

"I think you should. You would definitely make it. You scored twenty-five points tonight with five three pointers."

"Well five was my lucky number tonight." He said under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Don't worry about it… So why did you call me out here for a walk?"

"I just wanted to get a chance to talked to you alone before all the groupies jumped all over you."

"Groupies are the last thing that would be on mind now and in the future."

"Is that so?" she said mocking him from earlier.

"Are you saying you are one?"

"Definitely not!" she shouted as she frowned up at him.

"Sorry… just asking." He said as he chuckled a little.

"But I do have a certain interest in you that is not associated with your basketball skills." He stopped and looked at her causing her to stop too.

"Which would be?"

A chilly breeze blew past causing both of them to shiver.

"Damn autumn breeze." She said as she began to rub her arms trying to keep them warm. His eyes remained locked on her waiting for an answer. For some reason his mind was very conflicted as something inside of him was screaming for him to leave this girl alone yet there was an equal power telling him not to move.

She all of a sudden closed in on the space between them as she pulled his head down low enough for her to steal a kiss from him.

"Sorry for this but you will understand this someday." Before he could react everything around him went cold – much colder than that breeze earlier. It felt like his entire body was screaming in pain as its temperature drop to arctic levels. The scenery around him began to spin out of control as he the felt the normal weight of his body disappeared. His vision became blurry – the last thing that played over in his head was her apologizing and the cold autumn breeze that was causing him so much suffering.

**III  
**(Soul Society Entrance)

Sounds of turbulent winds wake him from his sleep. As he slowly rose up he realized that the vast amount of pain his body was undergoing was already gone. The terrifying chill his bones were feeling had subsided as well. But he quickly learnt that those would be the least of his concerns as he finally took notice of his surroundings. For all he could see was a dim grey shade of mist with a bright light several miles to the south of him. The winds were so strong that he was almost knocked back to the ground by a powerful gust.

As he caught his balance he realized that there was chains all over his body. He started to pull on them and felt a tug on his chest and wrists. The chains on his wrists almost seemed to be endless as they dropped to the ground making a loud _clank_ noise. He began to search for the source but only discovered that these chains were literally attached to the bones in his wrist and wrapped around it a countless amount of times. The other chain was stabbed directly into his sternum and most of it was coiled around his waist.

"……" he tried to talk but nothing came out. Along with his voice his memory was also very vague as his thoughts refused to piece themselves together long enough to make out what they were trying to show him.

The sounds of footsteps caused him to snapped out of his trance as he turned toward the source to notice that several men in strange black outfits were running toward him. The first thoughts that managed to unscramble themselves were the ones that told him to run. He legs suddenly began to control themselves as he began to sprint toward the light hoping something was there that could help explain what was going on.

As he stepped through the light he couldn't help but noticed the vast differences in his surroundings now. No longer was he surrounded by bland grey nothingness but lush green scenery as he gawked at trees that stood high like skyscrapers.

The sounds of chatter coming from behind him caused him start his dash again as the men who were chasing him were beginning to close in on him.

"Stop!" he heard someone yelled.

He wasn't about to stop regardless of what they said despite not knowing where the hell he was. Even though his thoughts were still scrambled he knew that he didn't want to get caught by whoever those guys were.

In the distance he saw what looked like a clearing in this forest – he quickly changed course and began to run toward the clearing. He didn't know why – his body was on autopilot – but as long as it allowed him to escape his pursuers than he wouldn't care where he turned up.

As he got closer he noticed that the clearing lead right to a town, which he charged right in without giving it a second thought. The looks he was getting from the towns people showed just how out of place he was. Lucky for him, the streets were crowded enough to slow down his chasers as his body began to weave through the traffic as if he had been doing this all of his life. He took a quick glance behind him to see how far they were away from him but as soon as he returned forward he collided with a woman causing both of them to collapse to the ground.

They crashed into what looked like a shop with him on the bottom somehow. He watched quietly as the hunters ran right pass the shops. There were to many people to see that he had fell.

"Uh… are you all right?" the woman asked as she rose up and padded the dust off of herself.

Her voice was so soft and caring that he instantly began to relax a little. Her hair was a blinding white that went perfect with her piercing silver orbs that caused him to gape at her.

"Is there something on my face?" she asked. He shook his head as he regained his composure.

"…." He tired to talk again but his mind couldn't push through the needed information to communicate. Her expression was one of pure curiosity as she stared closer at him.

"My name is Yukishiro Setsuka, what is yours?" she stated in slow manner wondering if he could understand her. He began to scrunch his eyes as he tried to focus his mind. He needed to piece it back together so he could figure out what happened to him.

Suddenly the last words he remembered from the night came back to him in a flood of thoughts.

"A-a-a-autumn b-b-breeze…." Was the only part that spilled out of his mind as his head began to overload.

"Autumn breeze?" she stared at him even more confused now. Then something must have clicked in her head as her eyes lit up.

"You must've just passed and you mind is still confused about everything thing. How about I just call you Akikaze ok?"

"A-a-kikaze?" he stumbled to say. She smiled as she stood up.

"It means autumn breeze. That'll be your temporary name until your memory returns."

"Excuse me?" the shopkeeper asked as she returned from the back room where she found the two of them on the floor. "Is there anything I can— oh Setsuka-san? Why didn't you yell when you came in? I've would've been out right away." She glanced down at _Akikaze_ with a baffled expression. "Is he with you?"

"Yes, his name is Akikaze. He is one of my relatives from the living world." She said for some reason covering for him.

"Oh I see… I glad that you finally have someone else now. I don't have to worry about you as much now since he looks like a strong fellow." She smiled brightly as she helped him up.

"I told you I can take care of myself Juin-san."

"I know, I know – so what can I get you today?"

"Oh nothing, I was just showing him around when I sort of stumble into the store. He tried to catch me and we both ended up falling."

"Well be more careful ok?" she laughed.

The two left the store quickly after that with Setsuka leading the way. At this time, it seemed that most of Akikaze's memories were returning – not the important ones though, just the basics like speech.

"Why did you lie for me?"

"Oh so you can talk." She giggled.

"Now I can, for some reason I couldn't before."

"Remember your real name yet?"

"Still don't remember anything from my pa—" he quickly grabbed his stomach as he began to kneel down. Several people stopped and stared at him but Setsuka merely smiled at them letting them know that everything was all right.

"You ok?"

"I'm so hungry that it hurts, but at the same time I'm not hungry." His head began to hurt just trying to understand what he just said.

"You'll feel better with some rest. Its one of the side effect of being a spirit."

"Spirit?!" he shouted as his eyes popped open.

"Yeah… you died." She said as her cheerful expression dropped to a downcast of seriousness. "The reason why you are hungry is because your body hasn't grown use to the soul society so its not taking in the spirit particles that surround us."

His expression was completely blank as he tried to take in just what she had said to him. It was almost too much for him to swallow but he also knew that this wasn't a dream at all unfortunately.

"I died…?" he said in a whisper as he stared at the ground.

"This may not be the right time to ask this but why do you have chains wrapped around your wrists?"

His mask quickly shifted to one of bewilderment.

"This isn't normal?" he asked.

"Far from it. You right eye too."

"Huh?" he reached a hand up to rub his right eye and noticed that there was no feeling at all. He closed his left and suddenly realized that he was blind in his right eye – not completely though, he could only see bright blue particles where everyone was. "What does it look like?" he asked.

"It looked like a purple stone, it's very pretty though."

"What the hell happened to me…" he whined as he slumped even further down to the ground. "These weird chains… they are attached to my bones. When I _woke up_ they were there."

She kneeled down and helped him up.

"Come on… lets go to my place so you can rest. You'll feel better after you had some sleep." Not wanting to be too much of a burden to her he decided to just go along with her for now.

As soon as they arrived at her house, which looked like an old shack, she showed him to a tiny room that already had a mat on the floor. He started to ask if she lived alone but remembering what the shopkeeper said he easily put two and two together to come up with his own answer.

At first he was just going to rest on the mat but before he knew it he was out cold in the matter of a few minutes.

He didn't know how long he was out for but it felt like forever. The first thing he thought was all the prior events were apart of one huge dream – the championship, his death, the strange men chasing him, the forest, Setsuka, and that _woman_. But he found out quickly that this was all true when he peeked over at his right hand to see the same chain wrapped around his wrist.

He suddenly realized that he was on a new mattress and covered in a plan white blanket. The room he was in was pretty bare. He stared at the wood grain designs on the wall and the ceiling until his mind began to drift off again.

"_Sorry for this but you will understand this someday." _Those words replayed themselves vividly as he tried to decipher the meaning to them. He knew she was the cause of his death but he just didn't know how or why?

All of sudden there was a second voice whispering in his head. _'Ts..i..mo..'_ was what it was repeating but he couldn't make out what it was saying. The voice was soft, familiar, but at the same time very foreign. The room became pitch blank as the silhouette of a female was standing over him. He could no longer make out what she was saying anymore or what she looked like but the piercing light of a moon in the foreground began to blind him.

He suddenly jumped up realizing at the last minute that he was most likely still dreaming.

"What the hell was that?" he asked no one as he grabbed his head.

The sound of chatter from another round quickly caught his attention. He slowly stood up and slid back the sliding door that was almost as thin and as paper. Setsuka was suddenly startled by his sudden appearance as he noticed that she was not alone. The same men from before all were there and they look like they were interrogated her. He quickly stepped in front of her in a protective manner.

"Whatever you want just take it up with me!" he snapped, as his normally calm auburn orb was fierce.

"Perfect, so he _is_ here too." one of them said that seemed to be the leader.

"_Too_?" he asked as he turned back and looked at Setsuka.

"They want us to become Shinigami."

"Shinigami?" he asked even more confused that before.

"They are the enforcers and protectors of both the Soul Society and living world." she answered.

"But why do they want us and why in hell were the chasing me?"

"You two – especially _you_ –" the man narrowed his eyes at him. "have a very strong reiatsu that needs to be placed under control. Your abilities can be used to save many people in the future if trained right."

"And the reason why we were chasing you was because we thought you was a threat at first because your reiatsu was pulsating out of control." Another said as she stepped forward.

"What?"

Akikaze gave Setsuka a glance that was asking her what should he do. Her blank expression shifted to one of determination as she stepped in front of Akikaze.

"We'll do it."

"Huh?" Akikaze asked.

"You're looking for answers right? Becoming a Shinigami will allow you to be able to search more openly and you're most likely be able to get most of your memory back with their help." He stared at her for a second pondering over the decision before looking back at the man.

"Fine… Lead the way sir." He said in a defeated tone. He didn't know what he was getting himself into but she was right about this being the best means to gain knowledge.

**IV  
**(Living World)

There were flames everywhere discharging heat that could only be compared with the temperatures of the deepest depths of hell; molten lava flowed like rivers as a large dragon stood there, standing in the center of it all. Fierce scarlet eyes glared down at him, his teeth sharp and white, hands and feet trapped within chains, and its grunts sounded like words. He tried harder to make out what the dragon was saying but the more it said the harder it was to read – not to mention the heat was constantly increasing more and more unbearable for his body to withstand.

Why was he there? Who or what was that dragon? What was it saying? These are the questions that he asked himself every morning when he woke up. This reoccurring dream had been plaguing him for as long he could remember. When he was younger he thought of them as nightmares but now that he was grown he sort of looked forward to them. The people he used to tell this dream to all thought he was weird except one person.

The music of his favorite band snapped him out of his morning trance as he answered his phone.

"What's up?" he asked in a groggy tone. He was still too tired to look at the caller I.D. to see who had called him before answering.

"Shinji? Shinji you awake?" a female voice asked in a frantic manner.

"Now I am."

"He's dead…" there was a brief silence after that as he thought he heard sobbing on the other end.

"Hello? Who's dead?"

"And… and to-today was supposed to be his birthday!" the person said on the other end in short breaths as grief took control of her once again.

"Who?!" he yelled as he glanced at the date on his phone and his blood froze completely as his heart came to a sudden stop. The one person he who could talk to about his dreams and probably the closest family member he had to him… his cousin. "When's the funeral?"

"T-this weekend." Not wanting to talk anymore about it he quickly hung up as he launched his cell phone against the wall and watched as it shatter into a million pieces. The pain that had hid itself during the phone call finally began to swell up in his chest as he glared over at the broken katana that his father had left him when he died. Both cousins had planned to one-day repair the sword when they were older but the job was left to him only now – now that his cousin, his best friend, and his rival had passed.

The wake was packed to rim with people looking to pay their respects. Shinji knew that this would be the case thanks to his popularity. That were a lot of unfamiliar people at his wake but he vaguely knew them all thanks to the times he went to visit his cousin.

There was one person though who stood out the most among the crowd. Her jade eyes were stricken with depression but they still glowed so brightly that it was a task not to be ensnarled by them.

"Who is that?" Shinji asked his sister as he nodded his head in the woman's direction.

"I think she said she was his girlfriend."

"Explains why I didn't recognized her." He said as he grabbed a glass of water from the table he stood next to and began to take slow sips.

The cause of death was unknown and not many people were willing to talk about it, but he had to know what happened to cousin before he was able to move on.

He slowly walked up to woman and smiled.

"My name is Shinji," he stuck his hand out for her to shake it, which she reluctantly did, "I heard you was close to my cousin."

"Oh, I thought you was another detective, sorry about my oddness. They have been asking me so many questions that I was even beginning to question who I was."

"Sorry about that."

"It's ok, and yeah we were. I still can't believe he is gone. I still remember the other night when were celebrating his win. I was trying to convince him to go pro but now…" she placed her head in her hands as she began to cry. There was an awkward silence between the two of them as Shinji tried to think of what he should do. Now there was no way he could ask her any questions with her crying like this – plus she had already been answering questions from the detectives. He didn't want to be the villain in this situation so he apologized before walking away.

The atmosphere was finally beginning to get to him as he walked right out of the house and sat down in his car.

Silence, exactly what he needed. Something this tiresome was only going to drive him insane. He decided to go for a ride to help relax his nerves even more.

A short ride turned into a long drive until he found himself riding downtown in a city that was over forty miles away from home. He stopped at a light and began to chuckle to himself.

"Didn't think I was going this crazy." He said to himself as he looked at his rearview window. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as something dark and large walked past. He stuck his head out of the window to get a closer look and saw that nothing was there.

The driver behind him began to lay on his horn causing Shinji to realized that the light was green.

"What the fuck was that?"

As he turned the corner he heard a loud cracking noise followed by a loud scream – not a scream you would expect from a human but something monstrous. Suddenly he saw a quick glimpse of the thing he saw before but it quickly disappeared as his car was suddenly knocked several yards back into a building.

His body was going through a massive amount of pain and it was no telling how many bones were broken on his body but he somehow still managed to crawl out of the car. As he crawled against the pavement he could see huge puddles of blood falling like rain. This was when he realized that there was a large gash on his forehead where a piece of glass was.

He glanced up to see if there was anyone coming to help him but he only watched and more cars were getting tossed around like toys as that thing – whatever it was – began to grabbed the people and ripped what look like their _souls_ and swallow them whole.

He tried to force himself back to his feet but his equilibrium was to off thanks to the large amount of blood he had lost. He only crashed back to the pavement hard letting out a loud grunt.

He guessed that might have caught the monster's attention as he started to stalk over to him. He now could here sirens from the distance but he knew that they were to far away to be able to save him. Not like they could do anything against a beast like this anyway.

"There the Hollow is!" he heard someone shout.

'_Hollow?'_ he thought as he watched the beast back up and began to attack the source of the voice.

His sight was beginning to fail him but he could still see several people in black kosode and hakama wielding katana. In a surprising show, these people were able to take down the beast in the matter of seconds.

"This guy is about to die!" one of them shouted – the same female voice from before. They all suddenly rushed over to his side. One of them noticed that he could see them as he stopped.

"I think it's to late for him." the man said with a grim expression on his face.

"What do you mean to late?" the girl demanded.

"W-who are you?" Shinji forced out as he began to feel his heart slow down.

"You can see us?" she asked him.

"Y-yeah…am I not supposed too?" she shook her head with a faint smile on her face.

"I'm Suzuka, I'll see you in the afterlife." she said as she slowly stood up and began to do something with her hands. Shinji tried to call out to them but felt his entire body shut down as his heart made its final beat.

**V  
**(Soul Society Entrance)

Every muscle in his body was stiff as he rolled over on his back. Despite his current unknown location he seemed to be at peace – all of his past pains and sorrows had been taken away from him. It was almost like he was a brand new person. The stale grey like atmosphere reminded him of pillows as he slowly drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Still want to sleep?" a familiar voice asked as he heard footsteps approach him.

"I'm comfortable." He answered.

"Time to go before something bad comes to get you." She stated as she pulled him up.

"Hold up… your voice, have we met before?" he asked as he began to slowly awaken from his daze.

"I'm Asina Setsuka." She said as she smiled at him. This was the first time he got a good look at her – the first _real_ time he was dying. Her hair was a deep scarlet that fit perfectly with her burgundy orbs. She had peach toned skin and her body was _well _endowed – he found it hard to keep staring at her face instead of other _places_. "Your name?" she said as she lean in blocking his obvious viewing spot.

"Ikeru Shinji." He answered as he slowly rose up. He felt a rush of vertigo hit his head as he stumbled backwards before falling back down. "Got up way to fast." He complained. She only giggled as she helped him back to his feet. He took a second glance at her first and the last images of his life quickly flashed by.

"I know you?" he asked with a perplex expression on his face.

"No, this is the first time we have _actually_ met one another." She said as she shook her head. The way she emphasized actually caused him to stare at her closer.

"You sure?" at this time his face was literally within a few inches of hers. She blushed lightly as she pushed him back gently.

"Trust me, there is no way you could have seen or known me before. Since you are now dead and I was in a since born dead."

"What?"

"Which part are you confused about?"

"I figured I died in all but what in the hell are you talking about?" he demanded.

"People can reproduce in the afterlife."

"Weird…" he said as he started to walk forward.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know. I just feel like walking so I can clear my head."

"Shouldn't your head already be clear? Not many people who just passed regain their memories quickly and the whole ordeal can be quite frightening for them."

"I see." He mused as he paused. "Nope, I remember everything vividly. And I also remember your voice." He said as he stared at her. "So when are you going to tell me the truth?"

She sighed out loud as she contemplated over the fact to tell him or not.

"Truth is, I was there when you died, and –"

"See, was that so hard?" he interrupted as began to walk again.

"Wait… don't you want to hear the rest?!" she shouted as she jogged up to him.

"Oh yeah, what the hell was that thing that killed me?" he asked why still walking.

"A Hollow."

"Hollow?"

"They are corrupted souls that devour the souls of other. My squad was placed in charge of protecting your city but we never expected one to attack so soon so that's why we were late." She answered with a dishearten expression as the guilt became evident on her person.

"Is that why you was lying to me? I don't care about that anymore so let it go. What's done is done. So, what exactly are _you _then?" he asked with the curious expression of a newborn trying to take in as much as possible.

"Uh… I'm a spirit like you."

"Lying again." He sighed as he began to pick up on his pace. She sighed again realizing that she was either horrible at lying or he was just too good at reading her.

"Well… we are the same and yet we are different. I am a Shinigami. It's our job to make sure those things _don't _happen to others but as you know –" he pointed his index finger at her as he began to gawk at her. "What is it?"

"You mean I can get to be powerful and kill those things too?!" he asked as his mask was one of pure excitement. She had to admit that she had completely underestimated him from the beginning – she was quite happy that she did too.

"Uh… its possible if you work hard at it. You have to go through six years of training before you are considered. Even if you complete the six years there is no guaranteed that you will be promoted."

"Oh I will." He stated with an abundant amount of confidence in his tone. "So where do I sign up. By the way, why are you here to greet me?"

"I felt horrible for failing to save you so I wanted to make sure that you would be able to make it to the Soul Society without being attacked by any Hollows."

"They're here too?" he quickly began to scan the area as if he could see where they were hiding.

"Not all the time since it is more Shinigami here but every now and then some wait here for unsuspecting souls."

"How did you make it back here so quick and how did you know where I was?"

"I was given permission to return after pleading with my taichou. Plus I'm already familiar your reiatsu enough to be able to track you down."

"Reiatsu?"

"Spiritual energy. Yours is quite unique and strong. You may actually be able to make it to the next level if you homed your skills."

"So when do I get my sword?" he asked as he pointed to her sheath.

"Fifth year."

"Damnit…. Well lets get going then." He stated as he continued to lead the way as if he knew the direction.

"Uh… I should lead."

"Yeah… probably." He shrugged as he chuckled a little.

**VI  
**(Seireitei/Shinigami Academy)

Setsuka and Akikaze were walking down the academy hallways trying to find their first class. They had just completed their third entrance exam and both of them passed with flying colors – one easier than other though.

A loud yawn caused Setsuka to jumped due to the surprised. Her nerves were completely shot to death thanks to the many hours she had to answer questions about her past and other subjects in an amazingly tense ambiance. While Akikaze, who had also went through a similar interrogation exam if not harder, was as calm as he could be.

"What did they ask you about?" she asked as she looked up at him.

"A bunch of pointless things like I knew the answers, and when I said I didn't they only gawked at me like I was lying. One of them even accused me of being some kind of Hollow trying to infiltrate Seireitei."

"Strange… but you _seem _ok."

"It wasn't hard. I know how to talk to people apparently, almost everything I said seemed to be the right thing since most of them – except the guy who swore I was a Hollow – said they had high expectations from me.

"Lucky you, I felt like I was going to throw up from all the stress."

"Ohayou gozaimasu!" a female student greeted as she walked up to the two of them.

"Ohayou!" Setsuka greeted with a smile on her face. The student was a breath of fresh for her thanks to the morning she had already had.

"You guys are first years too? I'm already lost. Oh, my name is Arare Midori – sorry for the late introduction."

"It's ok I'm Yukishiro Setsuka and this is –"

"Mayonaka Akikaze." He answered for himself.

"You remembered your last name?"

"Nope." He stated as he walked past Midori into the class that was to the left of them.

"You two know each other?" Midori asked.

"Gomen nasai, he's not what you would call a _people person_." Midori nods her head as she stared into the classroom at him as he took his seat. He glanced back at her causing her to hide behind Setsuka.

"He's kind of scary."

"He's harmless…" she stated as she shook her head. "You said you were a first year too right?"

"Yeah?"

"I think this is our class."

"How do you know?"

"Well… Akikaze –" they both looked at him as he pointed to other students' clothes in a _very_ obvious method – he literally lifted up the white hakama of the person who was seating next to him and compared to his own – showing them how similar they were to theirs. The amount of strange looks he was receiving caused Midori to giggle out loud. "Told you he was harmless." Setsuka reiterated.

Setsuka walked into and took the open seat next to Akikaze. Akikaze yawned again – this time putting his head on the desk proceeding to go to sleep.

"It's not wise to fall asleep in class on the first day." Another student stated as he took the seat in front of him.

"I'm tired…" Akikaze affirmed without lifting his head.

"We had a rough morning since we registered for the academy so late." Setsuka said with a soft smile on her face – she was also exhausted too.

"Oh, so you two are together?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it and pay attention in class." Akikaze said in a firm voice causing the student's face to shift to a scarlet red showing how furious he was. Setsuka let out a silent gulp, as she knew this was only going to end up badly for them.

"Who are you to talk to me that way?" he demanded. Akikaze finally lifted his head to take a better look at the source of his annoyance and made a _'heh'_ noise before placing his head back down.

"I thought it was polite for one to introduce himself before demanding the names of others?" he said in a very arrogant tone matching the other student's.

'_Come on Akikaze…'_ Setsuka thought as she just looked on in fear.

If he was furious before now if he was more than pissed as she stood up.

"I am the second eldest son of the Akina family – Akina Haoro!" he proclaimed with a great amount of pride in voice.

"Who?" Akikaze mumbled in-between his arms as his head remained on the desk. Several other students began to chuckle only adding to Akina's temper.

"Come Akikaze… apologize…" Setsuka pleaded causing Akikaze to sigh.

"Gomen nasai…" he said in a forged tone.

"Stand up now and lets settle this!" he demanded causing Setsuka to leap up instead.

"Why? He apologized already!"

"He wasn't sincere at all and he also needs to be taught a lessen about respect."

Akikaze slapped his desk as he abruptly rose to his feet towering over Akina – his annoyance made obvious by the amount of killer intent his body was emitting. Several of the students began to quickly back away from the two.

"Come on Akina-san. He has already apologized – there is no need to take it this far." Setsuka was the only who seemed oblivious of Akikaze killer intent as his reiatsu began to increase causing the others to fear him even more. Akina on the other hand stood his ground firmly – that was until he noticed the ominous twinkle in the odd lavender stone that was embedded into Akikaze right eye. He slowly backed up but still in an aggressive position waiting for anything.

"This what the class looks like? It's… normal… I was hoping for something more advanced!" a student yelled in a disappointment as he walked in – ignorant to what was happening.

Right before he took his seat he took a quick glance at the three standing up and instantly recognized the taller one.

"I-I-I can't believe it! You're here too?!" he shouted as he rushed over to Akikaze.

Akikaze seemed to instantly calm down as the new student charged up to him with a large smile on his face. Akikaze wore a baffled expression as he watched him.

"What is it? Don't you recognize ya own cousin?" he said in a joking tone before he began to realize that what he said was actually true. "It's me, Shinji!" He pointed to himself to add more emphasize.

Akikaze sighed again as he sat down and shook his head.

"I don't have the slightest clue who you are so can you settle down and let me gets some sleep."

"What?!"

**To Be Continued**

--  
Kaiki: Death Anniversary


End file.
